Pokémon: Alneo Chronicles
by ajkent14z
Summary: A tie-in to my main fanfic series, featuring a collection of folklore popular around the Pokémon World, narrated by famous personalities of Pokémon Universe. Rated T for violence and death.
1. Introduction

Introduction

How the Pokémon world we know came into being?

What the various regions looked like before the advancement of technology?

What has changed in the Pokémon world in these 15 years (the time when the main story takes place)?

How did the appearance of Alneo region changed everything?

A lot of such questions would be answered in this drabble collection of tales and legends, narrated by the famous personalities of Pokémon world. Brace yourself as Cynthia, Gary, Lance, and many others take you to the historical tales of this world, making you aware of the facts you have never known before...


	2. The Alneo Region & Beginning of Universe

Alneo Region & Beginning of Universe

By Cynthia Blackheart

Champion of Sinnoh

Who was the first Pokémon?

This question has always been a point of debate between people of the Pokémon world. The Creationists believe that at the beginning of universe, Arceus emerged from the chaos and shaped the world with his hundred hands. On the other hand, the more science-oriented evolutionists believe that Mew was the first Pokémon and all the others evolved from it. Till now, both the theories had time and again contradicted each other and no one fact was accepted as truth. But with the appearance of Alneo region, all the myths of creation were broken down.

One might wonder why Alneo holds so much importance. Well, ask yourself, if a new building magically appears near your house, would you simply neglect it? No, right? The same was our reaction when the satellites informed that a new landmass has mysteriously appeared in the middle of the ocean. We knew it was something serious!

When the first squad of researchers was sent to Alneo, they found out that this mysterious new region was home to a lot of new Pokémon, some of them were related directly or distinctly to the Pokémon we find in other regions while a lot of them were entirely separate species. Also, the Pokémon of this region were far more powerful than the ones we knew, for instance, a Noctowl we found in the wild new Dragon Breath, a move the species can't learn by any means.

It was also found that Alneo had a largely diversified geography. The northernmost part of Alneo is decorated by large mountain ranges, containing the largest peaks in the world. Numerous rivers make their way down these mountains, branching and creating the famous river channels of Alneo. It is these rivers that the north-central part of the region is flourish with rainforests. However, a little mountain range separates a smaller western part from the plains and rainfall, creating a vast desert. The western part, though, homes a large marsh created by the rivers branching into a delta. As we move south, the plains transform into plateau finally opening to the sea in a peninsula. There are small archipelagoes on both sides of the southern peninsula, one of which was later converted to the Alneo League headquarters named Victory Islands.

So, enough with the geography lessons. We'll now move towards the topic we have started this article with, that is, the first Pokémon.

This question was answered when humans from different part of the world started to settle in Alneo region because of its diversity in both Pokémon and geography. More parts of the mysterious region was discovered, one of them being the ancient Creation Ruins. The scientists have found that the ruins are millions of years old, even before the first human civilization.

The glyphs in the ruins explain that in the beginning of universe, there were two equal and opposite forces of right and wrong, order and chaos. The two primordial forces fought for eons with no victor. The force of good sired a world with life, and the force of evil answered by creating the Seven Sins of Pride, Trickery, Envy, Wrath, Sloth, Greed and Lust. The Seven Sins plagued the human world for centuries before seventeen Elemental Warriors emerged from the light to fight them. These warriors were sired by the force of good and were the creators of all elements that exist in the universe namely, Fire, Water, Plants, Lightning, Wind, Bugs, Poison, Ice, Metals, Ghost, Rock, Ground, Strength, Mind, Magic, Dragon, and Darkness.

The seventeen warriors fought alongside the force of good and finally sealed the ultimate force of evil and its Seven Sins into the depths of the Distortion Realm. The battle, however, destroyed all the creation and the universe once again became a chaos. The force of good then transformed into pure energy and illuminated the darkness of the universe. A part of this energy condensed and formed an egg, the first Pokémon egg ever.

Over the years, the seventeen Elements watched over the egg. After it hatched, the Elemental Warriors pledged to stay by this newborn and concentrated their respective energies into artefacts, known to the modern world as Elemental Plates.

Yes, you guessed right. The Pokémon that hatched from the egg was Arceus and the seventeen Elemental Warriors became his plates, granting the power of their elements to every Pokémon ever since.

Now, a question arises. If Mew is the ancestor of all Pokémon and has the DNA of every single Pokémon, how was Arceus the first to hatch?

The answer is more simple than what you might guess. Have you heard the saying that Arceus shaped (reshaped, to be honest) the universe with his thousand hands? Well, they were not the literal 'hands'.

To start the universe from the scratch, Arceus created a thousand Mew, who later sired all the different types of Pokémon we know. Well, except the council of legendaries, but since Arceus sired all the legendary Pokémon, Mew share its DNA with them.

The rest of the story, we all know. Arceus created the Creation Trio: Dialga, Palkia and Giratina. While Dialga was given the domain of time, Palkia got the power over space. Giratina, however, was chosen to rule the Distortion Realm, both as a punishment for his misbehavior and to make sure that the ultimate force of evil does not escape.

Arceus then recreated the Pokémon World and the humans, giving them various virtues by creating Uxie, Mesprit and Azelf. But the creation of humans and their interaction with Pokémon is a different story, so I say farewell for now.

Meet you again with the Chronicles of Alneo.


	3. The Ages of Pokémon World

The Ages of Pokémon World

By Gary Oak

Pokémon Professor of Kanto

In the previous log, Cynthia discussed on the Golden Age of Pokémon World. It was pretty short-termed though, and I think it didn't even lasted long enough to be termed as an "age". But let it be. Let's move towards the Silver Age, which was the start of the Pokémon World as we know it.

So, Arceus came into power and somehow inherited the knowledge of what world used to be prior to his existence before all the reality was destroyed in a battle between good and evil. There are theories about how Arceus knew that, though. Maybe the seventeen Elemental Warriors fed him the info after their transformation into the Elemental Plates. Maybe Arceus knew nothing about the world before him and just estimated he was doing right.

Anyways, after creating Mew and the Creation Trio, and by extension, creating the universe, Arceus got a little creation-happy, like, "Hey, that was fun! Let's see what else I can make."

And that's when mighty Arceus created the planet we call Pokémon World. A beautiful blue planet with one large landmass. Yep, you got it right. In the beginning, there was just one giant landmass.

And that was where all the Mew found home and gradually, started to sire a huge variety of Pokémon. Since Mew were Arceus' first creation, they had fragments of energies from all the Plates carried by Arceus. Resultantly, the offsprings were largely diversified. A large number of these Pokémon were sea-dwelling and became the first prehistoric Pokémon.

Gradually, the life started to become more land-based and after a few centuries, both the land and the sea were widely inhabited by millions of Pokémon. And then came the age of Dinosaurs.

And then came the bad time. It was this time when somehow, the magma inside the Earth condensed and a Primal Pokémon took birth. As if to counter that, another Primal Pokémon was formed by the oceanic currents in deep sea trenches.

Yes, you guessed right! It was the war between Groudon and Kyogre that wiped out almost the entirety of prehistoric Pokémon. That was when Arceus was awaken from his slumber, what did they called it, yes, Arceus-Sleep, and to quell the Primal beasts, created another dragon out of the minerals in ozone layer (Arceus was hell too much Dragon-loving). This new dragon, named Rayquaza, calmed the two Primal Pokémon and all the three went into hibernation.

However, the Silver Age of Pokémon world was terribly destroyed in the battle. Many species went extinct. A lot of land was submerged into the sea. Arceus felt pity on the creatures that had somehow survived the fury of the Primals and from the remains of the landmass, created a new super continent.

This new continent was made by Arceus as his own image. The only remaining Mew, also called the Elder Mew, led the survivors to this land where they lived and reproduced. Slowly, the world was replenished of its lost beauty and this marked the start of the Bronze Age of Pokémon World.

To make sure that the crisis of Weather Titans would not happen again, Arceus made his last four creations before going back to the Arceus-Sleep. Man, he did get exhausted pretty fast!

The first creation of Arceus in Bronze Age were explicitly the images of his first creation ever. In Mew's image, the Original One created Uxie, Mesprit and Azelf. The trio was created to grant knowledge, emotions and willpower to every living being in the universe.

Arceus' second creation was something entirely different. This creation of Arceus was intellectually superior than its predecessors and was able to tame and utilize the potentials of the relatively wild Pokémon. Yes, this creation of Arceus became the first humans to roam the Pokémon World.

The third and fourth creations were actually gifts to this human race. One of them being the race of Symbol Pokémon called Unown, who were gifted to the humans as a symbol of their superiority, and were the source from where humans derived their languages.

The final creation of Arceus was, again, a Dragon. Seriously, what was the deal with dragons! Maybe Arceus thought they looked cute or whatever. So, this dragon was gifted as a heirloom to the human race, and was meant to be with the elder male as a symbol of power.

Gradually, the world flourished even better and so did mankind. Eventually, the humans started to emerge as the rulers, and named the super-continent Ransei.

There will be more stories about the Ransei super-continent, but I think it's enough for now.

Smell ya later!


	4. The Ransei Supercontinent

The Ransei Supercontinent

By Lance Blackthorn

Champion of Johto

The Ransei Region... Historians and researchers term the time as the Bronze Age of Pokémon World, but as far as I am concerned, it was the best period in the pages of history.

Ransei had everything to be called the closest thing to a fairyland. There were warlords, kings and knights, great heroes and legends, and numerous mysterious Pokémon. It is found that Anorith, a now-prehistoric Pokémon used to inhabit the caves during this period.

There are millions of legends about Ransei and its citizens. Chronologically the first one after Ransei's creation and my personal favorite (you can call me biased though) is about a man named Ryu. It was long before Ransei was divided into frontiers, and all the humans and Pokémon lived as a large, single family.

So, Ryu was the head of the civilization back then, one of those who had the power of the Ancient Dragon given by Arceus by his side. He was the first person to discover that humans and Pokémon share a magical bond called Link. Since there were no Pokéballs back then, in order to tame a Pokémon, a human had to make a Link with it. Every human had a stronger affinity to an individual Pokémon species, known as Perfect Link. A Perfect Link, if made, allowed the human to unlock the full potential of the Pokémon.

So, Ryu was a great man, and a brilliant Dragontamer. Back then, humans were able to transform into a more powerful form, just like the Evolution of Pokémon. Ryu was the only human to achieve a Level 5 form. He found the historical Dragon Pillar of Ransei and made it the capital of the region. This achievement was short-term, though, since Ryu had two sons, and that's where the unity of Ransei collapsed.

Ryu's sons were probably the greatest trainers of Ransei, perfect in everything. The only difference was that the younger son, Hiro, believed in a world based on ideals; while the older one, Shin, wanted a world based on truth. Since both the ideologies seemed equally right, Ryu requested his dragon to choose its master.

If you've already guessed what happened next, you're possibly right. The dragon split into two different beings, one supporting Hiro's ideals and other supporting Shin's truth, and the first war in human history started.

The War of Ideologies, as it is known in modern times, was a disastrous event. The dragon fought for months, but were evenly matched. The destruction caused by the war made people lost faith in the brothers.

New leaders emerged, and their respective followers started to settle in different parts of Ransei, leading to the creation of sixteen new kingdoms: Aurora, Ignis, Fontaine, Greenleaf, Pugilis, Violight, Terrera, Illusio, Chrysalia, Cragspur, Avia, Yaksha, Viperia, Spectra, Valora and Nixtorm. The former capital of Ransei, home to the dragon pillar, was renamed to Dragnor.

The division of Ransei struck Hiro with utter grief and he left Dragnor to live as a wanderer. He released his dragon, Reshiram, ordering the legendary Pokémon to search for a true-hearted human. Shin, on the other hand, decided to rule Dragnor as its new Warlord alongside his Zekrom.

Everything went alright for a few generations, but gradually, the Warlords started to become power-hungry and attack other kingdoms, resulting the equilibrium of Ransei to get unbalanced.

That's when a great warrior was born in the royal house of Dragnor. This boy, named Nobunaga, grew up to be a great warlord and a brilliant Dragontamer as well. But when he learned about his ancestry, Nobunaga started to believe that he must be the ruler of entire Ransei, and went on a conquest to unite the region once again.

Meanwhile, a baby boy was born in the kingdom of Aurora. Aurora had remained unnoticed since the previous Warlord tried to invade the kingdom of Ignis and was severely injured in the battle, resulting in his death. As a kingdom without a Warlord was seen worthless in Ransei, nobody attacked it. But when the young boy was crowned, it drew the attention of Ignis' Warlord. After defending Aurora, the boy learned about Nobunaga's ambition to unite Ransei and avenge whatever had happened to his ancestors.

The great race between the two warriors began and the young boy finally invaded sixteen kingdoms, ultimately facing Nobunaga and his Zekrom in Dragnor. The chaos from all the wars finally awakened Arceus who helped the boy in bringing peace in Ransei. After uniting Ransei, the young boy returned the kingdoms into the hands of their respective warlords and they lived happily... at least for a few generations.

And that was when the most important event in history took place. The division of kingdoms on the basis of Pokémon types proved to be a major drawback, since every Warlord believed their types to be superior to others. They started to think that the types used by them should be the dominant type in Ransei, which started a much bloodier war.

This time, a sage named Sevius lived in Aurora. He became upset because of the wars and along with his six followers, prayed to Arceus for help. Arceus listened to him and created Lugia and Ho-oh, two legendary creatures, in order to help Sevius and his followers survive the upcoming apocalypse. Both the Pokémon created a large tower where all the Pokémon and humans who believed in Sevius took shelter. Arceus then created the Colossal Pokémon, Regigigas, ordering it to tear Ransei apart.

The apocalypse was a severe punishment for the entirety of mankind. Arceus took away the gift of Transformation from humans, to prevent them from getting more-than-enough powerful.

Regigigas continued its work, breaking the Ransei supercontinent and shifting the land with ropes, reshaping the world. Four years after the start of this task, Sevius died of old age.

After his death, his eldest follower, Silphius left the tower with his three Pokémon to find his own path. It was this Silphius who created the first region of modern times, completely with the help of his three Pokémon. His Torterra became the base of the region, going into hibernation under the sea for eternity and slowly converting into pure landmass. His Empoleon created three lakes on this land with its horns to provide fresh water. His Infernape provided the heat needed for the region to flourish. Slowly, people started to settle in the nation, beginning the first civilization of the modern world, the Region of Sinnoh.

It took Regigigas six more years to complete the shifting of continents. The remaining five elder followers of Sevius distributed the regions among themselves. The brothers Janus and Johannas got the larger part of land around the tower they took shelter in, naming it Kanto after their family name, Kent. The group of islands in proximity to the region was named Sevii in honour of their mentor, Sevius.

Similarly, the other three of the Six Elders; Kalvin, Horace and Nova; founded the regions Kalos, Hoenn and Unova respectively.

This marked the end of Bronze Age and the start of the Modern Age of Pokémon World. Ransei had been home to many more legends, but those will be told next time. Till then, keep loving your Pokémon. Goodbye!


	5. The Kent Dynasty & Pre-League Kanto

The Kent Dynasty & Pre-League Kanto

By Kenshin Koga

Champion of Kanto

The region of Kanto, known worldwide as the most technologically developed region and the home to many genius minds.

There is the Oak family, serving as the regional Pokémon Professors for three generations. Samuel Oak was the brain behind the Pokédex project, his son Kevin was the genius researcher who found the effect of a Pokémon's Nature on battling, and Kevin's son, Gary Oak, is the one who recently invented the high-tech Trainers' PokéTab. Gary's elder sister, Daisy, had been a brilliant Pokémon Coordinator and is now Pallet Town's very own Pokémon Groomer.

Then, there is Dr Hitoshi Fuji. The long-time Pokémon scientist once worked for Giovanni, and was the brain behind the ultimate demigod of Pokémon World, the legendary Mewtwo. Though, we all know it took a long time for Mewtwo to understand the meaning of harmony, but all's well if end's well, isn't it? Most people do not know that it was Dr Fuji who first invented the most versatile Pokémon ever, the little creature we call Ditto, while he was working on Mew's DNA. Today, Ditto is widely used by Pokémon Breeders to breed rare Pokémon species.

Then comes the Silphs. The Silph family actually has its roots in the historical supercontinent of Ransei. The first known ancestor to this family was Curtis Mason, a blacksmith who lived in the kingdom of Ignis and was the first smith ever in Pokémon World's history. When Regigigas shifted the continents, he took refuge among others in the Legendary Tower and later settled in the place known today as Azalea Town.

After a few generations, a young smith in Curtis's bloodline discovered the magical fruit of apricot that could be converted into a device to keep Pokémon. The discovery of Apricot Orbs brought a major change in the world as trainers now found a rather convenient way to carry their Pokémon. The young discoverer, Nigel, changed his last name to Kurt to honour his ancestor.

The Kurt family got yet another place in history when Nigel's daughter married a young merchant named Finnius Silph. It was Finnius who later invented the first technology to enhance Kurts' Apricot Orbs, and hence, created the first Pokéball. Finnius' descendants later founded the Silph Corporation in Saffron City and today, are one of the most widespread families of Pokémon World.

There is also the world-renowned tech wizard named William Daniels, most commonly known as Bill of the Lighthouse, who is the creator of the technology that allows trainers to transfer their Pokémon from one place to another. Bill once worked as a researcher in Silph Corps and is the brain behind the Silph Scope, a device used to see the invisible.

That was about technology. But as it is known, Kanto is never behind in other fields. But it has taken years of strive and hardship to reach this spot. When Janus and Johannas found the region, they had to put a huge effort in order to make Kanto flourish.

The first problem that arose in Kanto was its area. Kanto was the largest of the six regions. Though, the fortress of Kents was built on the Indigo Plateau at the centre of the continent, it was still gruesome to govern the entire place. Hence, Janus decided that they would share the responsibilities. Janus chose to watch over the affairs of Eastern Kanto, while Johannas looked after the Western Kanto.

Anyways, Janus was a really kindhearted man. He gave parts of Kanto to the three Warlords who supported the division of Ransei.

The first one, Lady Juno, founded the legendary town of Rota and the beautiful Cameran Palace. The Palace was so beautiful that it attracted the Elder Mew and the legendary Pokémon made it a regular place of visit. The people of Rota made it a custom to welcome Mew by starting the Cameran Festival. Mew, in return, showered the place with happiness and gifted Rota with the Tree of Life.

The other was Pokémopolis, situated near the region that is now known as Pewter City. Pokémopolis was known to inhabit extremely powerful Giant Pokémon. But this became its major drawback, since a fight between a giant Alakazam and a giant Gengar nearly destroyed the entire city. The sages of Pokémopolis sealed the gigantic Pokémon in ancient artefacts and evacuated the city.

The third kingdom, given to the ex-Warlord Hiyoshi, met the worst fate. Hiyoshi's son was a power-hungry and greedy man. When he came to power, he tried to overthrow Janus by using the power of the legendary bird Ho-oh. However, when he tried to capture Ho-oh, the legendary Pokémon sealed his spirit into his own Stone Orb and destroyed his kingdom of Pokélantis.

While Janus was indeed kindhearted, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he was the ultimate destructive force in battle. There was a time when some wannabe named Argus tried to gather some corrupted minds in order to use Pokémon for world domination.

When Janus came to know about how Argus and his people treated Pokémon like slaves, he decided to teach them a lesson. Disguised as a peddler, Janus visited Argus's house and found that the man was actually a poacher who slaughtered Pokémon to earn money.

Though Argus and his group were out for another hunt, Janus found a little Charmander in the house , abused so badly that the flame on its tail was about to extinguish. Janus applied some medicines on the little Pokémon's wounds and brought it to his palace. Janus personally attended the Charmander and it was soon healthy again.

The Charmander soon grew up stronger and became a Charizard. That's when it was found that it was a more rare kind. Instead of the natural orange and tan, the Charizard's body had ash-grey and crimson scales. Janus announced this Charizard as the sigil of the House of Kent.

By now, Janus had almost forgotten about Argus. But when the news of Kent's sigil spread through Kanto, Argus realized that the Charizard was actually the same rare Charmander that was stolen from his house. The poacher, along with his twenty men and fifty Pokémon, raided the Kent Palace.

There were some rules in Kanto back then. First, killing or abusing Pokémon for any kind of profit was a death-sentence. Second, trespassing into anyone's property by the middle of the night was prohibited. Third, threatening a man who was feared across the world was plain foolishness. And fourth, may Arceus have mercy on you if you tried to boast in front of Janus Kent.

Argus did all of the above! He threatened to kill Janus, saying that Janus had no right to be in power if he can't even have his palace guarded. Argus claimed that he would be a worthy ruler since, according to him, humans were the dominant race and Pokémon were merely the slaves.

Janus simply smiled at the man's foolishness and offered him to go back safe. As expected, Argus laughed and attacked Janus with his sword. But before the sword's blade could touch Janus's body, Charizard swooped in and slashed Argus's arm off his shoulders. Angry (and foolish as he was), Argus ordered his men to attack, but Charizard burned all twenty of them alive. Even his army of fifty Pokémon seemed too afraid to even move.

Argus tried to escape, but it was too late. Janus chained him from the highest tower of Indigo Plateau and ordered his Fearow to torment him every morning. At the evening, Janus would visit his prisoner and had a Chansey heal his wounds before Fearow returned to torture him the next morning. This torment continued almost as long as Janus remained the king. When his son came to throne, he put Argus into the prison for the rest of his useless life.

Some would say this was a really harsh punishment, even for someone like Argus. I see it as the true justice, a man who tortured Pokémon for profit was punished to get tortured by them. It's just the karma returning the favor. And Janus Kent was the true believer of karma.

His descendants were more or less the images of himself. When his son, Janus Kent II, came to power, he made it a rule in Kanto to visit the Legendary Tower as a pilgrimage once every four years. The Legendary Pokémon Lugia was pleased by this act, and created three birds out of ice, lightning and magma, gifting them to Janus II as guardians of the nation. These birds: Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres would later be known as the Legendary Bird Trio, or the Elemental Birds.

When Johannas's grandchildren appealed to separate Western Kanto as an independent nation, Janus II accepted the request, signing a treaty allowing both the nations to have friendly relations with each other and sharing their capital in Indigo Plateau.

While Janus Kent II had his father's kindness and wisdom, there was yet another Kent who inherited the Elder Kent's rage. It was Janus II's great-grandson, Zeus Kent, who closed any path of trades between Eastern and Western Kanto, and shifted the capital of Kanto from Indigo Plateau to Saffron City. He stopped the pilgrim to Legendary Tower in Western Kanto and instead built a shrine to Lugia in Eastern Kanto, known as Pokémon Tower.

The reason behind this was to show his distant relatives that Eastern Kanto was no more dependent on its Western counterpart. The ruler of the other nation retaliated by changing the name of the region from Western Kanto to Johto. This marked the start of the infamous Johto-Kanto crisis.

Zeus Kent then tightened the security of Kanto, appointing four great warriors as the Royal Horsemen of Kanto. This was the earliest form of the modern day Elite Four. Zeus's horsemen were: Sir Aaron Blaze of Rota, one of the Aura Knights and a well-known war veteran; Daichi Natsume, a master of battle tricks and strategies; Adam Rockhart, a muscular fighter who was known to defeat a horde of Tauros bare-handed; and Lucia Lorelei, the head of the House of Lorelei that was once a major family in Ransean kingdom of Nixtorm.

The descendants of these Four Horsemen are among the greatest trainers in Kanto, even to this time. The House of Lorelei, still in fame due to the Kanto Elite Four member Prima Lorelei, are widely known for their expertise in Ice-types and are known in the pages of history as Dragon Busters, since Ice-type was the only type to overpower the Dragon-type for a long time.

Adam Rockhart's family served the royal throne of Kent's for the longest time, up to its last monarch. Today, the name of the family is kept alive by Bruno Rockhart, yet another Elite Four member of Kanto. Adam Rockhart's granddaughter, Symphony, married a gem dealer named Rufus Boulder, the man who later found the Pewter City and is the ancestor of the famous Pokémon Doctor Brock Boulder.

Sir Aaron Blaze of Rota is known in history as the first Kantonese to master the art of Aura Manipulation, something exclusive to only the ancient Sinnohan families. His descendant, Sir Aaron Blaze III, was the person who stopped the Kanto-Johto war along with his loyal partner Lucario. The Blaze family was long considered to be extinct, but a young trainer named Lyra Blaze brought the name back into light when she was chosen as one of the Elite Four member of Alneo Region.

Daichi Natsume remained the most recognised name among the Horsemen because of his mastery over Psychic-types and the way he battled, relying solely on tricks and strategies rather than brute force. Zeus Kent was so impressed by Daichi that the king betrothed his daughter to him. The Natsume family then grew more powerful, with trainers who were supposed to be virtually invincible. They were the first ones to understand the potential of widely undernoticed Abra and its evolution, Alakazam was later made the sigil of the Natsume House. After the Kanto-Johto war, however, the last known descendant of Daichi left Kanto, but the family regained its fame in Kanto when Sabrina Natsume returned to Saffron, overthrowing the Fighting-type gym and establishing her own Psychic-type gym. This Sabrina is today the most powerful Elite Four member of Kanto.

Coming back to the royal bloodline, Zeus Kent's great-grandson was the next great ruler of the Kent Dynasty. This man, named Alexander Kent, was also called Janus Kent III because he was the exact replica of the Elder Kent. Soon after coming to power, Alexander openly waged a war against the then-corrupted political structure of Johto. The Johtoan warriors were no match for Alexander's power and after the two months long Kanto-Johto war, Alexander defeated the Johtoan army. While some might call it invasion, Alexander was actually seen as a messiah among the Johtoan civilians, who claimed that he, in fact, saved them from the tyrannical rule of the Johtoan king.

And as good a king as he was, Alexander showed an equal respect to Johto. He reopened all the trade routes between Kanto and Johto, shifted the capital back to Indigo Plateau, and allowed people of Johto to retain the name of their nation. He even made the young prince of Johtoan royalty his second in-command and offered general amnesty to all the warriors who fought from Johto's side.

However, Alexander Kent had a virtue entirely different from Janus Kent (or any Kent for that matter). He could relate to the lives of common people. He treated rich and poor alike and equal, as his friends rather than subjects. It always bothered him that some famous families were rich and powerful just because their ancestors were great warriors, while on the other side, the trainers born in a peasant's family were considered low despite being efficient.

In order to help decrease the social differences, Alexander gave up on monarchy and introduced the League system, the first ever Pokémon League in history. His system was simple: any human, rich or poor, was able to be the governing authority if he could defeat the most powerful trainer of that time, known as the Champion. To assure that this system won't become hereditary, Xander applied the idea of the Four Horsemen and appointed the Elite Four, four extremely powerful trainers, bested only by the Champion. If a Champion died, the most powerful Elite Four member would take his place.

This kind of government initially received many negative reviews, most people fearing corruption and tyranny. But Alexander assured everyone, saying that this would encourage young trainers from every background to become powerful, and in this world, being powerful meant being perfectly bonded with your Pokémon. The Elite Four tested every quality of a challenger in battle and hence, if they were even as corrupted as an oil drop in the ocean, there was no chance they would ever reach the Champion. And even if they managed, a Champion had entirely different cards up his sleeve, so there was zero probability that corruption could enter the League and only a true-hearted trainer was able to gain the title.

Alexander chose his Elite Four from both Kanto and Johto, further strengthening the bond between the two regions. However, no other Kent was able to retain the status of Champion after Alexander. But still, the Kents were powerful trainer and later established a Gym in Viridian City.

So, this was the pre-League Kanto region. There would be more about Kanto, but that's for some other day.


	6. Legends, Dragons and Johto

Legends, Dragons and Johto

By Morty Darkholme

Ecruteak Gym Leader, Johto

Johto is seen differently by different people in this world. Many believe it to be primitive, reasoning that the shadow of a more advanced Kanto has barred Johto from development. Others, who really see the truth of the region, understand that Johto has chosen its traditional values over the gleam of development. Resultantly, Johto still retains its natural, pollution-free state, the way it had been for years. My statement is further supported by the fact that not a single pollution causing Pokémon (Grimer, Gulpin, Trubbish, etc) can be found in Johto.

Just like the place, the people of Johto are pretty conservative, loving the way it had been since ages. Those who think that Kanto's influence has kept Johto deprived of progress are wrong. Johtoans don't really want to change. As far as progress is concerned, we are the largest producers of agricultural and dairy products. Nations like Kanto and Unova might be the greatest industrial regions, but nobody can change the fact that Johto is the backbone of these industries since their very origin.

However, the region has seen a lot of ups and downs. When Johannas Kent's grandson, Remus, announced Johto as a free nation, he tried to make a few upgrades. The first ever lighthouse of the Pokémon World was built, facilitating trade and commerce even in the dark of the night. He gave large lands to farmers for agricultural use (thus, having an indirect hand in the discovery of apricorns).

Remus made it a rule for the farmers to present one wagon from their harvest at the Legendary Tower, where Ho-oh and Lugia would bless them with prosperity. Some might call it superstitious, but Remus was a man of utter smartness. While this festival was a way to respect the legendaries, it also made sure that the farmer did their job honestly, since nobody wanted to face the wrath of the Legendary Twins.

And that has always been the most special thing about Johto: it is always watched by legends. Unlike Arceus (who needs to be awakened from his Arceus-sleep for help) or Mewtwo (who rather likes his solitude), the legendary Pokémon of Johto are ever-present, and would appear in times of peril to save their devotees.

This is further proved by the tale of King Xavier Stronghold. Xavier was a descendant of Johannas Kent and became the king of Johto at a young age of 16, after the mysterious death of his father. Xavier was connected to the Kents from his mother's side, and hence, was despised by his uncle and cousins, who wanted the throne for themselves.

And then happened the most tragic accident in the history of Johto. When Xavier had his first child, he went to the Legendary Tower with his wife and newborn baby to pray to the Legendary Twins. It was a stormy night, and the town people was in their houses to avoid the rain. Xavier's cousins found this a great opportunity and made their Pokémon use Thunder on the tower. The resulting thunderbolt set the whole tower on fire, trapping the king, the queen, the baby princess and the king's three Pokémon inside.

Xavier called for help, but unfortunately, both Ho-oh and Lugia were far away that time. By the time Ho-oh returned, the Legendary Tower was completely burned and six charred corpses were all that was left.

Ho-oh was deeply saddened by the tragedy, but it had no power over the lives of humans. That was not its domain. However, as a condolence, it used its power to revive the three Pokémon back from death. Those three Pokémon became the Legendary Beasts: Entei, Raikou and Suicune.

Here, Xavier's cousins decided to divide the region among themselves. The elder son, Ian, took the eastern part; the middle son, Brian, took the central part; while the youngest, Evan, got the westernmost part. This was when the dark age of Johto began.

The brothers prohibited worshipping the legendaries, confessing that they were the ones to burn the Legendary Tower. This caused both Ho-oh and Lugia to leave Johto and find a new roost at Navel Rock in Sevii. The Legendary Beasts fled off, rarely coming in front of humans. Upset by this new kingship, a group of monks migrated north and started a new civilization called Sinjoh.

In Sinjoh, the monks started to worship the creator of the World in hopes of help and that was when Arceus was awakened again. Arceus, being omniscient, was both angry and disappointed by the brothers' deed. However, he was also saddened by the differences that had increased between people and Pokémon.

Arceus had several tasks at hand. Xavier was a big devotee of legendaries and infanticide was an unforgivable sin, hence Arceus was bound to avenge the deaths happened at the Legendary Tower. Moreover, the brothers were blasphemous and were turning people against legendaries.

If Arceus wanted, he could've torn Johto apart like he had done to Ransei. What power can three kings hold against an omnipotent entity? But Arceus didn't. People have different opinions why he didn't punished the sinners for their crime. According to me, the spirit of Johto was the prime reason. The prime difference between Ransei and Johto was that the people of Johto had faith. Even Arceus couldn't harm so many innocent people for the deeds of just three brothers.

Arceus revived Xavier's soul from the Distortion Realm and granted the former king a second life. Instead, Xavier requested Arceus to revive his baby daughter instead. When asked how would a young baby avenge his death, Xavier replied that he wanted no revenge, that he is sure that his relatives who killed him for the sake of throne won't be able to enjoy it for long, since a true king rules on people's heart.

Pleased by Xavier's wisdom, Arceus revived both him and his baby daughter as the Pokémon Jirachi and Celebi, one who could realize any selfless wish and other who could make even the most barren lands flourish with vegetation. Arceus also assured them that the people who killed them, despite being their own family, would perish in the same fashion.

And it happened!

Brian, the middle brother, also known in the history as the Igniter (since he was the mastermind behind Xavier's assassin), made his capital near the modern-day Azalea Town. Since most of the productive land was taken by his brothers, Brian had to satisfy himself with the little prairie in the west of his capital.

One day, walking around the prairie, he saw a beautiful young maiden, dressed in lush green dress adorned with beautiful flowers. All around her, Grass-type Pokémon danced and flowering plants swayed in the breeze.

Brian knew this girl wasn't normal. He wanted her as his queen. So, he approached the girl with tons of jewels and gold. The girl, however, dismissed the proposal, saying that she is not interested in the king's riches.

Heartbroken, Brian tried to abduct the girl. He was the king, after all! No woman could refuse him. The girl merely smiled, saying that if her siblings found out what the king did, they would tear him apart. Unfazed and arrogant as he was, Brian ordered his horsemen to chain the girl and bring her to the palace.

Once in the palace, the king asked the girl to choose between either marriage or death. When the girl chose death, the king ordered his executioner to kill her. But no matter what he tried, no weapon was able to touch the maiden's skin. Arrows turned to roses, swords were transformed to wheat staffs.

Brian got angry and tried to put the girl on fire. However, the true form of the girl was revealed in the light of the torch: a little, green pixie-like creature with beautiful blue eyes. Celebi merely smiled at the king, who by now, had understood that it was too late to apologize. All around him, buildings started to crumble to dust. People had horrified expressions as the hair on their body transformed to grass, their skin getting hard like tree bark. The king tried to shout, but no voice came out of his wooden throat. In a few minutes, the entire population of King Brian's capital was converted to trees: hundreds of trees, clustered around randomly, making a canopy that blocked out even the sunlight.

The only survivor of this massive curse of the forest was a young kid named Ilex, who was brought up by Celebi and later established the Azalea Town. The forest that was created by Celebi's curse on Brian was named Ilex Forest after the boy.

After Brian's sudden disappearance, his two brothers started to grow suspicious. Both of them started to believe that the other was responsible in Brian's disappearance. This dispute led to a war between the two brothers. The younger brother, Evan tried to force Lugia to help him in the war, but Lugia retaliated by causing vicious whirlpools around his palace which was situated in the middle of the western sea. The whirlpools caused the island to break into several small lands, and formed the place known today as the Whirl Islands.

This disaster caused a mass panic in Evan's army and the elder brother, Ian took the opportunity to attack and assassinate his brother. With both his brothers dead, Ian became the king of entire Johto and that was when he learned about the Ilex Forest.

Angered about how the legendaries made him kill his own brother, Ian set the forest on fire. Celebi left the land, but took all the nourishment with it. This made the people revolt against the rule, and that was when Alexander Kent learned about how the brothers have exploited Johto.

After Alexander won the war, he chained Ian at the centre of the burned and barren Ilex Forest, where the former king starved to death. After that, Alexander searched for the young boy Ilex, in order to get help in retrieving the nourishment of Johto. He found Ilex meditating on the head of a gigantic Bellsprout in a remote area. Alexander battled the Bellsprout and managed to reach Ilex, who explained him that only a Pokémon can rejuvenate the land and offered him a Slowpoke.

It was this Slowpoke whose yawn caused heavy rainfall and made Celebi return to Azalea, renourishing the land. Alexander made a shrine in Ilex Forest to respect Celebi and since then, Slowpoke are considered sacred in Azalea Town.

Another contribution of Alexander Kent to Kanto was the legendary city of Blackthorn. Since Nobunaga's quest in Ransei, people have developed a fear of Dragon-types. Dragons were powerful creatures, with very few weaknesses. Hence, Dragons and Dragontamers were seen as a potential threat by almost everyone in the world.

This, however, caused many tragedies. Homes were burnt, Dragontamers were forced to migrate away from population and live like nomads. That was the time when a clan of Dragontamers set a small civilization in a hilly terrain between Johto and Hoenn. This region was later called Orre, after the founder, Oranos Blackthorn.

Alexander Kent had heard about the Dragontamers of Orre and the power of the Fist of Blackthorn, the mighty Dragonite that was thought to equal the power of legendaries. He traveled to Orre and requested the Elder Blackthorn to come to Johto and teach people about Dragon-types, so that they could understand the powerful Pokémon, rather than fear them.

Alexander announced the Elder Blackthorn as one of his horsemen and asked him to select any location of Johto to set their village in, and the Blackthorns chose the beautiful valley hidden by mountain ranges on all sides, the valley which would later be called the Blackthorn City.

Ian's son, who was brought up by Alexander, changed his last name to Stronghold as a sign of respect for King Xavier, and dedicated himself in public service. He founded the Cianwood City, and was best paramedic of Johto. His ancestors later established the Cianwood Pharmacy, and one of them, Daniel Stronghold, established the Cianwood City Gym.

Although Ilex himself never married, he adopted a young orphan girl, who later married a famous entomologist, starting the family that would later establish the Azalea Gym.

Me? I come from a lesser known family of Channelers. My ancestors have served the people of Johto since ages, helping them make contact with the spirits of their loved ones. There hasn't been any famous personality in the Darkholme family, well, except my grandpa, but that's another story for another time.

Till then, fare thee well!


	7. Hoenn & the Age of Pirates

Hoenn and the Age of Pirates

By Steven Stone

Champion of Hoenn

The Hoenn region, by all means, can be considered a mediocre, but that has never been a disadvantage. In fact, lying in the middle of the spectrum of regions has served Hoenn a nice profit since ages.

If you're a traveller, the first thing you'll notice in Hoenn is its climate. Hoenn is a tropical land, and hence, is warmer than any other region in Pokémon World, except Alneo. It also features a vast and diversified habitat for both humans and Pokémon. The most striking thing about Hoenn is that it is half-land and half-sea, and hence, is home to a huge variety of Pokémon, especially those who inhabit deep sea trenches. Talking about trenches, did I mentioned Hoenn has the only marine trenches in the entire Pokémon World?

This is probably the reason that the Primal Titans call this region home. The largest active volcano and the deepest sea trenches make great homes for the Pokémon who were born from magma and ocean. One might also notice that the cities and towns of Hoenn are the closest to nature, in contrast to the modernized cities of the other regions.

Apart from all this, the biggest feat of Hoenn is that the human and Pokémon populations have the best harmony here. And this has been the same way since the very beginning.

Sir Horace Reigner and his Milotic could be the best example of the relationship between a trainer and Pokémon. It is often told in Hoenn folklore that the Milotic had a telepathic link with Sir Horace and was his partner not only in battles, but in politics and kingship as well. No wonder why Milotic the sigil of the ancient House of Reigner.

Sir Horace was the first to discover that Pokémon do not need to battle others in order to grow up. A trainer's care and love alone can make the Pokémon grow stronger. This discovery motivated the non-violent king to find a new alternative for Pokémon Battles, and that was how Pokémon Contests were born. Sir Horace would hold a semi-annual festival at his palace, where people from all over Hoenn came and participated. The concept was simple, to grade a Pokémon not on the basis of strength, but by various virtues that represented its growth. There was no pitting Pokémon against each other. Instead, a trainer should execute combinations of Pokémon moves to impress the king and the audience. The trainer whose Pokémon managed to get the most applause was declared the winner, rewarded with fame and gold. If a Pokémon made exceptionally good performance, a statue of the trainer and Pokémon was made to be placed in the Ever Grande Palace, which was indeed the biggest reward for anyone.

The introduction of Pokémon Contests was widely accepted by the Hoennish trainers. However, some people still wanted the traditional style of battling and hence, the Battle Tower was built on a southern island, where the people with a love for battles can participate against each other.

Since Sir Horace was not interested in battles, he appointed one of his best generals, Sir Sebastian Potter, as the in-charge of Battle Tower facility. Sir Sebastian Potter is the very person from whom the Potter family of Lavaridge has descended. Scott Davidson, the owner of the modern Battle Frontier, is also a descendant of Sir Potter.

Moving back to Sir Horace's bloodline. The Reigner family was later branched when Lady Dakota was married to Devon Stone, a wealthy diamond dealer from Rustboro. Yeah, you got it right, Lady Dakota was my many-times-great grandma. So, Devon Stone later established the company known today as the Devon Corps and opened gates of economical and scientific development for Hoenn. Many people who wished to dedicate themselves to research joined Devon Corps and the company flourished. In more recent times, my dad worked with Mr Nicholas Silph of Kanto to develop the ultimate Pokéball, also called the Master Ball, but the project was abandoned before completion to protect the technology from wrong hands.

The main branch of Sir Horace's bloodline saw many great trainers who maintained the name of the Reigner family as one of the most prestigious families in Hoenn. One of them was Sir Dave Reigner, who found a large volcanic crater in the middle of the sea when he was seafaring with his Milotic in search of the supposedly extinct Relicanth. He was impressed how the place was hidden from normal eyes and could only be accessed by either underwater or the sky. He shifted the capital from Ever Grande to this crater, naming it Sootopolis.

His son later discovered the Cave of Origins, the ancient cave from Ransean times that depicted wall paintings of the events of Ransei, like the battle of Groudon and Kyogre, Rayquaza calming the Weather Titans, Regigigas shifting the continents, etc. After the implementation of the League system in Hoenn, the Reigner Palace was converted to Sootopolis Gym and the Reigner family became one of the most powerful Gym Leaders in the world.

Another one of the major families of Hoenn is the Ohana family. The Ohanas used to live in the region of Oblivia, but when Unova invaded the region, the family migrated to Hoenn and settled at Mt. Pyre. Being a family of gypsies, Ohana family is notable for being the only one able to communicate with spirits of the dead, and hence, are Hoenn's master Ghost-type specialists. The Ohanas are exceptionally strong because of their signature Pokémon, Sableye, the only Hoenn Pokémon to have just one weakness, i.e. Fairy-types, which are significantly rare in Hoenn. This is the reason that when the Weather Orbs were discovered by Devon Corps' archaeologists and it was found that the Orbs had power to awake Groudon and Kyogre, the Devon Corps handed them over to the Ohana family for safekeeping. The last Ohana child, Phoebe, is presently one of the Hoenn Elite Four.

Now, we'll move on to one of the most nefarious villains of Pokémon World, named Edward Thatch. While little is known about his early life, sources say that he was born in Slateport, which, even then, was a major port of Hoenn. Born near the sea, he was a brilliant Water-type specialist and hence was appointed as a crew of a merchant vessel of Hoenn.

However, Thatch soon got bored of that and got involved in acts of piracy. He murdered various crew members on board, along with the ship's captain, and claimed the ship for himself, renaming it S.S. Anne's Revenge. Thatch started to roam the Hoenn seas, destroying and robbing merchant ships with his ferocious Sharpedo. Because of his dark impact and his fearsome image of a man with thick black beard, Edward Thatch got the name Blackbeard.

Blackbeard soon extended his area of operation from Hoenn to the International Waters, particularly the Hoenn-Unova Sea Route. The tales of his exploits started to travel farther and farther, and the fear of Blackbeard increased. Soon, he involved into acts of human and Pokémon slavery, imprisoning the survivors of the vessels he sabotaged and forcing them into piracy. He claimed monopoly over sea-dwelling Pokémon, barring people from capturing them. It is also said that he managed to imprison the legendary Pokémon Suicune, after which Suicune cursed him for eternal hunger and unquenchable thirst.

This incident drove him insane. He tried to awaken Kyogre to sink all the land, but his Sharpedo was cleanly out matched by Halo Ohana's Sableye on Mt. Pyre, thus saving the Weather Orbs he had his eyes on. Frustrated, Blackbeard started to corrupt the common people. He encouraged young trainers into piracy, and in a couple years, had seven pirate ships under his fleet.

He sabotaged the vessels from Kalos that was shipping Mega Stones to Hoenn, thus becoming the first Hoennish to own a Mega Evolved Pokémon. With his new Mega Sharpedo, he managed to defeat Hola's Sableye and get the Weather Orbs. He would have raised Kyogre and unleashed doom on the entire world, but he was diverted by Captain Drake Williamson.

Drake was initially an independent pirate who was under trial for piracy in Hoenn court. When he heard that Blackbeard was going to raise Kyogre from its sleep, the man took it upon himself to stop the villianous pirate and offered the Hoenn government help in exchange for freedom. After a long debate, the court finally agreed and gave Drake the command of a merchant vessel called Black Clamperl. Drake redesigned it to appear like a pirate ship and the governer of Hoenn announced a fake bounty on Drake's head, calling him a bigger threat than even Blackbeard.

Curious, Blackbeard organised a meeting with Drake at the Pirate Cove, known today as the Lilycove City, in order to find his secret. Drake explained him about the Island of Lost Wishes, a place inhabited by the mythical Jirachi, who was said to fulfil the wishes of those who found it. Blackbeard saw this as a way to get rid of his curse and proposed Drake to work with him. In return, Blackbeard promised Drake the captainship of S.S. Anne's Revenge.

Drake, completing his part of the promise, led Blackbeard to the Island of Lost Wishes, where Blackbeard announced him the new captain of Anne's Revenge. However, when the fearsome pirate reached the end of the cavern, he found the Hoennish army waiting for him. A battle ensued, and Blackbeard's Mega Sharpedo seemed victorious, until Drake appeared with his famous Dragon-type partner, Salamence. Since he was the new captain of Anne's Revenge, he had complete access to all her treasures, including the Mega Stones. Using a Salamencite, Drake mega-evolved Salamence and defeated Blackbeard's Sharpedo.

Blackbeard was imprisoned and all his ships were confiscated by royal navy, except the S.S. Anne's Revenge, which was instead presented as a gift to Drake. Drake was offered the post of Commodore in the royal navy, but he refused, instead continuing his adventurous life as a pirate. He appealed to save the people who were forced into piracy by Blackbeard and became an idol among the pirate community. After that, Captain Drake left to roam the world's seas and was never seen again, though there were legends of a large pirate ship with black sails appearing in the seas to help those in peril.

The story of Captain Drake Williamson gradually faded in the pages of history and Anne's Revenge was considered pure myth, until the League system was implemented in Hoenn and Drake's descendant, Drake Williamson III was found and brought back to Hoenn as a member of the Elite Four.

Along with Pokémon Contests and pirates, Hoenn has always been home to new and innovative styles of Pokémon battling, as the people here are always curious to invent something new. The concept of Contests and Battle Tower mixed together gave birth to a lot new ideas for battling and hence, several new facilities were built around Hoenn, known as Battle Tents, where a trainer was able to enjoy new and innovative styles of battling, perfecting themselves as a trainer and strengthening the bond between them and their Pokémon.

The earliest forms of Battle Tents were competitive events held once every year. The concept was to put in front of trainers, several challenges in order to test their skills as a trainer. The Battle Tent event was held at several different places selected according to the nature of the challenges. The Swap Challenge tested a trainer's ability to work with new Pokémon by providing them rental Pokémon for a series of battles. The Time Tourney Challenge was a tournament where participating trainers had to win against the other trainer in a set amount of time, judged by several factors like the moves used, the damages dealt, the strategy, etc. The Tag Team Challenge tested a trainer's coordination with others by randomly pairing them with other competitors in a tag team battle. The Trust Challenge was based around the bonds between a trainer and Pokémon, where trainers were restricted from giving instructions and the Pokémon fought on their own.

With the ages, the Battle Tent became a craze among young trainers and it was converted to a permanent facility in various cities of Hoenn. Also, it started a new form of Pokémon battling, known as Double Battles, where trainers used two Pokémon instead of the traditional one-on-one. While this was a way to refresh trainers from the boredom of traditional battling, it provided a medium of strengthening the collaboration between a trainer's Pokémon.

While Hoenn has been known as the Land of Abundant Relations, it is not far behind in scientific development. Though, most development in Hoenn was brought when Kanto colonized the region during the World War, but development is development nonetheless.

The largest Space Research Center in the Pokémon World is situated in Mossdeep City of Hoenn. It was built by the famous astronomers Helius and Selena Solace, who were so fascinated by the Pokémon Solrock and Lunatone (seen by that-time Hoenn as the deities of Sun and Moon) that they decided to find out about their origins. Their work led to opening the gates of outer space, and soon humans learned more about the supposedly mythical world beyond the blue sky. The work started by the couple is now administrated by their descendants, the mystic twins Tate and Lisa Solace.

Hoenn is credited for many other accomplishments, but the last one I'll be talking about is the discovery of variations of Pokémon. The evolution line of Pokémon were long considered to be straight chains. But the eventual discovery of Eevee in Kanto established a new fact in front of the World: branched families. It was soon discovered by Sir Isaac Elm of Johto that Slowpoke evolve by two different ways: into a Slowbro when a Shellder bites its tail, and into a Slowking when the Shellder bites its head while it is wearing the King's Rock. Elm studied various other Pokémon, and found that when treated with different stimuli, some of them evolve into different kind of Pokémon. Elm also found that the Pokémon species can acquire a difference in coloration. This variation, however, was so rare that the chances of finding a different colored Pokémon was considered less than the chances of getting struck by lightning twice.

Hoenn took this revelation to a further new level when Professor Fredrick Birch of New Bark Town discovered that the variations in Pokémon can also be affected by their gender. Although, the Nidoran family had already introduced the world with gender differences, it was long considered the only Pokémon to show such differences. Prof Birch discovered that Pokémon like Gyarados, Milotic, Gulpin, etc also exhibit gender variations, though that were minor and easily ignored. He also found that Illumise, when bred, produced both Volbeat and Illumise eggs, similar to Nidoran family.

Another great revelation was brought by the discovery of the Pokémon Castform. When Castform was first discovered, it was thought by the local people to be a legendary Pokémon responsible for the change of seasons. However, Prof Birch later found by subjecting a Castform to various artificial climates that it was in fact the other way round; Castform did not influence the weather, but the weather influenced Castform's variations. The reason for this unique behavior was that a Castform's DNA mutated with the slightest change in climatic conditions, similar to Eevee. The only difference was that Castform's changes were found to be reversible, unlike Eevee whose evolution was permanent.

This discovery set the researchers of entire world at square one, and gradually, more and more Pokémon were discovered to show variations based on differences between gender, climate, location, and so on. The legendary Pokémon that was discovered by space researchers at Birth Island was also found to be able to change its appearance by changing its Offense, Defense and Speed factors.

That was all I had to say about Hoenn. If you some day decided to travel to my homeland, make sure to pay me a visit. Till then, see y'all.


	8. Sinnoh & the Blackheart House

Sinnoh & the Blackheart House

By Lucian Wills

Elite Four Member, Sinnoh

Have you ever wondered that there are so many nations in the world with thousands of different Pokémon, but you can't find a single Gym dedicated to Dark-type? Even in Alneo, where there are 15 official gyms, there is no Dark-type Gym. Do you know why?

There have been theories popular among young trainers and in urban tales, but mind you, every one of them is wrong. The truth behind the secret of Dark-type Gyms can be found solely in the history of Sinnoh, or particularly, the history of the House of Blackheart.

The House of Blackheart has been either the most prestigious or the most stained family of Sinnoh, considering which Blackheart are you talking about. While the family had given legendary heroes to Sinnoh, it had also plagued with the most nefarious villains in the history. In short, the Blackhearts have the darkest history in the Pokémon World.

The family finds its origins during the creation of Modern World. Silphius, the Elder Monk who created Sinnoh had no interest in kingship. This was actually his very reason to separate himself from the other monks and create a separate nation in the northern hemisphere with the help of his Pokémon, named the Sinnoh Titans in history. His Torterra, the World Tortoise, became the base of Sinnoh; his Infernape, the Sun Monkey, generated heat for vegetation to flourish; and his Empoleon, the Ocean Trident, created freshwater lakes and springs.

Silphius wanted a nation where people were given complete freedom, where the king and the subjects were equal. Since Silphius felt it wrong to claim the throne only because he created the region, he started a new form of government. Every year, a tournament would take place in Sinnoh where anyone could participate and the victor was crowned the king for one year.

That was when the first Blackheart showed up. Almius Blackheart had come from a family of fishermen, who had once lived in the Ransean kingdom of Fontaine and later joined Silphius when he migrated from the Legendary Tower. Now, Almius was a fisherman, and he had only one Pokémon of his own: a Magikarp!

You may laugh as much you want. You may question the fisherman's sanity, how could he even imagine entering a kingship tournament with a Pokémon like Magikarp? Everyone in Sinnoh felt the same. They mocked him, called him a fool, some more caring people advised him to at least wait till his Magikarp evolves, but Almius was a stubborn man.

And people soon learned why... His Magikarp was not any normal Magikarp. Its scales were predominantly jet-black with some red parts. There was sure rage in the little fish's eyes, and its jaws were lined with sharp fangs. It was more like a Magikarp that haunted people's dreams. And the Magikarp was sure a nightmare for those who battled it. Unlike what people had expected, the Magikarp was much more than just a splashing fish. It went head to head with the likes of Pokémon like Garchomp and Abomasnow, and managed to excel Almius to the final battle. The most striking fact was that the Magikarp apparently was immune to Psychic-type attacks.

However, the people of Sinnoh revolted against Almius. This mostly included those he defeated, but there were also some orthodox naturalists who believed Almius used unfair means or even black magic, otherwise he couldn't have been able to win a single match with a Magikarp. Almius reasoned that his Magikarp was special and was the same way since he caught it in the Eastern Seas, but when the Eastern Seas were searched, no other Magikarp was found to acquire similar characteristics. Due to the lack of evidences in support of Almius and the pressure applied by the people, Silphius had to exile Almius to a nearby uninhabited island.

After Almius, the other man who had reached the finals was crowned the king of Sinnoh, but it was found that the man lacked any qualities of a king. Later that year, Silphius died of old age and Sinnoh faced one of the greatest tragedies ever: the War of Annexation.

Kalos had developed enough by that time and was home to great knights, in front of whom, Sinnoh was next to nothing. King Louis I of Kalos decided it would be a nice thing to annex Sinnoh and reform its political structure, since the annual change of ruler seemed like a wrong idea to him. His general led troops to Sinnoh and infiltrated the region from the uninhabited southern jungles. The king of Sinnoh tried to defend the nation, but the Kalos army was too powerful with all their Mega Evolutions, and especially the Fairy-types that the local Sinnohans had no knowledge about.

That was when a loud roar was heard and a 50 feet long dragon was seen in the horizon. It appeared like a Gyarados, but it was bulky and more draconic, and was giant by even the Gyarados standards. This Gyarados, commanded by Almius Blackheart, changed the entire tide of the battle. The Kalos army had to retreat in order to save themselves from the rage of the mighty Beast of Blackheart.

After defending Sinnoh, Almius claimed the throne without a single objection from anyone. He built his palace on the southernmost part of Sinnoh, naming the capital Almia, and made his Gyarados the sigil of the House of Blackheart. The secret of his Gyarados was revealed when King Louis II visited Sinnoh to sign a treaty of alliance between the two regions. When Louis II saw Almius' Gyarados, he immediately understood it was a Mega Evolution, but at the same time, was surprised by how the Gyarados was able to retain this evolution.

When he heard that Almius had caught the Gyarados as a Magikarp in the Eastern Seas, Louis II requested to examine the beast. He called his best Pokémon biologists from Kalos and on inspection, it was found that Gyarados' blood had microscopic fragments of the stone Gyaradosite. The biologists theorized that the Magikarp found by Almius was actually one from Kalos who was drifted to the Eastern Seas by the tidal currents between Kalos and Sinnoh. They also postulated that while in its Magikarp form, the Beast could have got some Gyaradosite crystals stuck between its rough scales, mutating the Pokémon and inducing a secondary Dark-type, hence solving the mystery why the Magikarp was different than others. Due to the energy released in Magikarp's evolution, the Gyaradosite crystals broke down to their basic molecular structures and made way into Gyarados's blood, directly elevating it to its Mega form.

Though, the same experiment, when done on other Magikarp, proved nothing and all the theories were discarded. It is still a mystery why Almius's Beast was different. But one thing is certain: Dark-type became the favored type of the king of Sinnoh.

Almius was parallel to Janus Kent of Kanto in many ways. He was a great ruler, a generous human, and a destructive force. He was also the first king in the Pokémon World to directly worship Arceus rather than other legendaries, and hence, built the gigantic shrine to Arceus, called the Spear Pillar. He named the northeastern island, his place of exile, as the Battle Zone; since it was home to powerful and wild Pokémon. Any person who was convicted for a crime such as robbery, murder, or Pokémon abuse was left in the Battle Zone to fight and survive the wilderness. If the convict managed to stay alive for a fortnight, he was brought back to Sinnoh. However, not a single human who was sent to the Battle Zone came back.

When Regigigas completed its task of shifting the continents, the Colossal Pokémon appeared at the northern shores of Sinnoh in search of Silphius. The reason for this was that Regigigas was created to aid Sevius and his followers and Silphius was the eldest of the six. Because Sevius was dead, Regigigas believed Silphius was its new master and came to Sinnoh to find him. Maybe it would have gone back after learning about Silphius's demise, but the Sinnohans got afraid of its gigantic size and started attacking. In retaliation, Regigigas slammed its massive fists on the land of Sinnoh, which shifted the tectonic plates and created the large mountain ranges, known today as Mt. Coronet.

To stop Regigigas, Almius travelled all the way to Unova and found Nova Janessen, the last one of the Elder Monks. Nova gave him a metal puppet and asked him to find the other two in Kanto and Kalos. Almius left for Kanto and sent a message to King Louis through his Honchkrow to find the other two puppets. He met King Janus Kent II in Kanto, getting the clay doll, and returned to Sinnoh to meet King Louis, who gave him an ice structure. When the three artefacts were shown to Regigigas, the Colossal Pokémon calmed down and took a much small size of nearly 12 feet. Regigigas then brought the three puppets to life and went to deep slumber in the northernmost snowy forest of Sinnoh.

The three puppets brought to life were Regirock, Regice and Registeel. It was understood by Almius that if need arose, these three Pokémon would be the key to reawaken Regigigas. To save the power of Regigigas from going into wrong hands, Almius sent them to Hoenn, as it was the reason best known for the harmony between Pokémon and humans. The three golems later went to slumber in different parts of Hoenn and their hideouts were sealed to prevent them from getting misused.

Almius's son, who he named Arcekles (meaning "glory of Arceus"), focused solely on improving the standards of local people. He built the mines at the foot of Mt. Coronet. The miners settled near the mines and started what is known today as the Oreburgh City. He also built the Solacean Temple to honour the gift of language given by Arceus, and hence, leading the temple to get inhabited by a large number of Unown.

The Blackheart dynasty was the longest ruling dynasty of Pokémon World, since the League System of government was adopted the latest in Sinnoh. All this time, the Blackhearts remained the most respected family of Sinnoh. However, everything changed with the last monarch, Rhocius Blackheart. Rhocius was a man born and brought up in the royal palace and hence, had a misconception that a region's king is the best trainer in that region.

As a result of this misbelief, Rhocius became the worst king Sinnoh ever saw. He treated his subjects like mere playthings, asking them to entertain him every now and then. He was also very stubborn and punished those who failed to fulfil his wishes. One day, a young girl named Elaine Bolt caught Rhocius's attention. The king was infatuated with the girl's beauty and charm, and sent his soldiers with a royal proposal. Well, a proposal according to King Rhocius was like this, "By the order of his Highness, you have to marry him or you and your family will be sentenced to death."

Now, Elaine was a wise girl. She accepted the king's proposal on a condition that Rhocius would have to defeat her in a Pokémon battle. Elaine's Electric-type Pokémon were extremely fast and agile, that proved a disadvantage to King Rhocius, whose Pokémon were disastrously weak due to the lack of training. Elaine berated the king and showed him the error of his ways, questioning his abilities as a king if he wasn't even good as a trainer.

Rhocius was deeply grief-stricken by this incident and he left the palace the following night to live in disguise. Since Rhocius's behavior had already caused enough trouble to the people, his younger brother decided that it was the best time to adopt the League System.

Rhocius Blackheart started to live disguised as an old gardener in Eterna City and while living amongst the common folks, learned what effect his kingship had on people. He committed suicide out of grief and his corpse was found next day hanging from a tree in the Eterna Forest. It was when the people were giving him a burial, that his identity was confirmed by a royal heirloom found in his possession. His brother, Julius, who still lived in Almia got the news much later since he was busy in the construction of his new Gym.

Yes, now comes the part I had started this tale with. Julius's Gym was the first Dark-type Gym in the World. It was full of great trainers and seemingly impossible puzzles. The problem occurred with Julius's grandson, Regulus Blackheart.

Regulus was a greedy man. When he learned that he actually came from a royal lineage, his greed increased further. He started worshipping Darkrai, in hopes to get more powerful as a Dark-type trainer. Darkrai was pleased by his devotion, and granted him invincibility on the nights of the new moon.

But Regulus was not pleased. He wanted more. He knew that Cresselia was Darkrai's counterpart in the process of change of moon's phases. So, he searched and found Cresselia, and went on to attempt to kill the legendary Pokémon in order to make every night without the moon. Cresselia, severely enraged by this, cursed Regulus that every human who runs or will try to run a Dark-type Gym will suffer cruel fates, and since Regulus was a Dark-type leader, his mastery over Dark-type would be his reason to perish.

And the curse came true. Every month on the night of the New Moon (when Regulus was supposed to be invincible), he would lose his ability to see or speak. But since he had Darkrai's blessing, his Pokémon won even when he wasn't giving them instructions. However, Cresselia's curse was realized when one day, he saw an Absol running into the woods. As a Dark-type trainer, he wanted that Absol. But he forgot that it was a New Moon night. As it went darker, he lost his vision and fell of a cliff.

The curse didn't ended with him, though. His elder son tried to continue the gym, but went missing when he was trying to find some rare Pokémon in Eterna Forest. His younger son was wise enough to demolish the Gym and build a shrine instead, but since then anyone who had tried to open a Dark-type Gym had suffered gruesome consequences: plagues, fires, diseases, poverty and a lot more. Soon a Dark-type Gym was seen as a taboo and the regional leagues stopped giving people the licenses for one. The Blackhearts were seen as the root for these mishaps and their city of Almia was separated from Sinnoh Region.

The Blackheart family was seen as a menace since then, and many of the Blackhearts chose the path of crime, staining the family name further. It was until the most recent times that the family was redeemed. This happened when a man named Augustus Blackheart started the Ranger's School of Almia in collaboration with Oblivia. Augustus's brother, Marcus, returned to Sinnoh to conduct more research and settled in the Celestic Town. While Marcus was researching the aquatic Pokémon in the Sinnoh seas, he found a small, blue egg floating over the waves. He took the egg with him and it hatched into a blue Pokémon, similar to the legendary Manaphy his brother had discovered in Almia.

This brought a new revelation into light. At least one of the legendary Pokémon was able to breed. Marcus put all his effort into finding Manaphy and when he did, Manaphy blessed Marcus with eternal fame and glory to every true-hearted person that is or will take birth in his family.

It was a few years later that Marcus's son managed to defeat the Sinnoh Champion. And since then, only a Blackheart had been able to defeat the Champion Blackheart, making the House of Blackheart the only family to remain Champions for five generations. The last Champion, Amadeus Blackheart, has three daughters, namely Cynthia, Diantha and Marthia. While Marthia went on to Kanto and later married Joseph Kent of Viridian, Diantha and Cynthia won the title of Champion in Kalos and Sinnoh respectively. With Diantha's son, Aaron becoming the Alneo Champion, the Blackhearts have become the only family to hold three Champion titles at once.


	9. Unova: Annexation to Invincibility

Unova: Annexation to Invincibility

By Drayden Daniels

Opelucid City Mayor, Unova

People who see Unova today fail to believe that out of the six main regions, Unova was the last to become independent, and has been probably the only region to not have any native monarchy. The prime reason for this is Unova's location on the globe. It is situated so far from the other regions, that people there gradually forgot about its existence after the earliest generations passed.

For a long time, there were tales around the rest of the world about a land beyond the end of ocean where the dead spirits went to rest. This discouraged voyagers to travel farther into the ocean, fearing that they may fall off the edge into the land of the dead and may never return.

So, there was a sailor in Kanto, named Christopher Nimbus, who took the task of finding the truth of this "land of spirits". He ventured farther and farther into the ocean. It was a long journey and he faced many problems in the way: his crew revolted, his supplies went on depleting, the vicious storms damaged his ship; but Nimbus was determined. After a long voyage of ten months, he finally was able to sea a landmass at the horizon.

When he reached the land, he found that the place was entirely different than what had been told in the tales. It was a lush and flourished continent, with species of Pokémon he had never seen or heard about anywhere. Nimbus also found that this land was actually home to a small human population. However, there apparently was no visible ruling authority and the only sign of development was a few little villages.

Nimbus learned about the history of this Newfoundland by some local elders, who believed it was created by one of the two dragons who fought the War of Ideologies. He also learned about Nova Janessen, the founder of the region, and named the region Unova, as it meant "something new" and served as an honour to the founder.

According to the Unovan Tales, Nova was entirely different from the other six founders by many virtues. She was a girl, she was extremely non-violent and had zero interest in establishing monarchy. Instead, she preached the native Unovans about the importance of peace and harmony and thus established a region where there was anarchy, but no crime.

Nova's background is also an interesting story. She came from a family of breeders who lived in the Ransean kingdom of Yaksha. Her family was entrusted with the task of breeding Grumpig for preparation of beef in royal feasts. Her family had no problem with the task, but Nova, being a kid who was born and brought up amongst Pokémon, disgusted that the marvelous Pokémon like Grumpig were only seen as food. In the royal farms, she found that the Dark-type Pokémon of Yaksha served a disadvantage to the Psychic-type Grumpig and hence, the pig Pokémon were utterly helpless.

Nova wanted to do something about it, but she had only one Blaziken as her partner, and hence was disastrously outnumbered in front of the massive army of Yaksha. As the solution for this, she came up with a strategy. She started teaching Fighting-type moves to the captive Grumpig, so that they could be able to defend themselves against the Dark-type Pokémon of Yaksha.

While doing this, Nova made a world-changing discovery. Slowly, the Grumpig not only started to master the Fighting moves they learned from Nova's Blaziken, but also apparently forgot their basic Psychic moves. When the next generation of the Grumpig was born, Nova saw a striking change. These new Spoink had fully grown limbs instead of the long spiral tail that their kind hopped on. It was also found that these new Spoink were able to perform a variety of Fire-type moves alongwith the Fighting-types, and any sign of them being Psychic-type was completely absent.

Nova named this new variation of Spoink as Tepig. Though the Yaksha ruler was terribly angry on Nova for this, the ruler of Ignis supported her and offered her amnesty, distributing her new found Tepig to the Ignis trainers. A few generations of these Tepig showed that they had ceased to show any relation to their ancestors. The two-stage Spoink to Grumpig evolution chain became three-chained, probably as a result that Tepig were weaker than average Spoink and hence needed a slightly powerful intermediate stage before reaching their final form. It was also seen that Tepig grew faster than Spoink: a Tepig hatched at the same time with a Spoink would evolve earlier, while both their final evolutions were attained almost after a similar time.

The first Tepig that evolved into Emboar was given to Nova and announced the sigil of the House of Janessen by the Ignis Warlord. However, since Nova remained an eternal maiden, the House of Janessen ended with her.

So, when Christoper Nimbus found Unova, he also opened the gates of annexation. The Kent Dynasty were already considered on of the superior rulers among the world, and King Charles Kent was a world-renowned conquerer. It was Charles who hoisted the Kantonian flag in Sevii and his relations with Xavier Stronghold in Johto made him the most powerful ruler of his time. When Nimbus returned with his findings, Charles infiltrated Unova in hopes of "modernizing" the region.

It won't be wrong to say that Charles was partly right: he did modernized Unova, but it was only because Unova was a part of his empire then. And Charles conquest over Unova made it visible to the other powerful nations of that time, Kalos and Sinnoh. So, the modernization of Unova was actually a way to keep the distant land safe from enemy territories.

Charles Kent built the famous Relic Castle of Unova, for the Kanto royalty to live. However, it was not long that other regions started to annex several parts of Unova into their own territory. On the positive side, this made Unova culturally more rich than other regions. Various different architectures were constructed, and the rich resources of Unova made it flourish economically. The cities developed more, Driftveil emerging as a major industrial area. The colonist nations opened schools for young native Unovans to learn more about the world they remained separated from.

It was initially enjoyed by the natives, but slowly, they started to realize that colonization was unhealthy for the nation in many ways. The colonists used Unovan Pokémon and resources for their own benefit. Although Unova was directly or indirectly benefited, the natives started to understand that it was only partial progress. The taxes enforced by Kantonian colonials also fueled the fire.

It was when a large group of Unovan patriots revolted against the Kantonian colonials, destroying a ship that was carrying exotic Kantonian tea for the Flocessy Tea Party. The patriots created their own governmental party and refused following the colonial legislation. This led to a violent fight between the two parties, known as Battle of Flocessy. The Patriots appointed George Skyarrow as the General, and with Skyarrow's war expertise and Electric-type Pokémon, the Patriots won the Battle of Flocessy, gaining complete command over Flocessy Town.

This victory was small, but it drew attention of the long-time enemy of Kanto– Kalos. Kalos was already trying to find an opportunity to avenge its defeat to the hands of Kanto in the Seventeen Months' War, and was encouraged by Unova's victory. Kalos made an alliance with the Patriots of Unova, offering them financial support.

Kanto was enraged by Kalos's involvement into the matter and it developed into the First World War, pitting the Kanto-Johto Alliance directly against Kalos, and by extension, the allied Sinnoh. The Patriots of Unova then annexed the smaller region of Oblivia, further increasing their power. General George Skyarrow consistently raided Unovan territories, and in a two year time, nearly two-third Unova was under the control of the Patriots.

That was when Kanto openly waged a war against the Unovan Patriots, trying to suppress them once and for all. The war, also known as the Unovan War of Independence, was a massive battle. During this time, Kanto invaded the region of Fiore, which till that time, was a good ally to both Sinnoh and Kalos. In retaliation, both the allied nations openly participated in the Unovan War from the Patriots' side and the allied powers forced Kanto to retreat. Unova and Fiore were both declared independent of Kantonian rule and George Skyarrow was made the first Champion of independent Unova.

But the problems wasn't finished yet. Another crisis started when Alberto Lincoln became the Champion of Unova and started his campaign to abolish Pokémon abuse and slavery. There were several parts of Unova who felt that Pokémon were inferiors and it was a fundamental human right to enslave them. These parts claimed secession from the Greater Unova region and formed the Confederate States of Unova.

This act started the most disastrous war in the history of Unova, known as the Unovan Civil War, in which an estimate of 5 million people and Pokémon died. A massive fire trapped even more Pokémon, but that was when the Swords of Justice appeared and fought the humans to save Pokémon from harm. Noticing what the Greater Unova League actually wanted, Cobalion decided to aid them in the war. The League emerged victorious and the Confederacy was merged with the rest of the nation, completely abolishing Pokémon slavery.

After this, Unova strived at a greater pace for development. Castelia City was reconstructed and the Marvelous and Skyarrow bridges were built. Corporate sectors flourished and Unova started to emerge as a great power. However, the events of the Civil War actually had a hidden impact which wasn't noticed by people until later on.

The Civil War was actually similar to the War of Ideologies, with one side supporting the established truth they knew, and other side favoring the ideals of a better world. This caused the long-time hidden legendary dragons, Reshiram and Zekrom, to resurface. But what the people of Unova didn't know was that another ancient power slept in the heart of Unova.

What happened was that when the two dragons split up in Ransean times to support Hiro and Shin, the former dragon (the one they emerged from) was turned to a corpse. The brother buried the corpse on the land that came into Unova during the division of Ransei. The massive deaths and the clashing ideologies of the Civil War mystically revived this corpse, creating a large crater named the Giant Chasm and giving birth to the Lacunosa urban legend. The dragon corpse, known as Kyurem, was long thought to be an extraterrestrial creature who came to Unova during a meteor shower. But it was later confirmed that Kyurem and the meteor shower were two separate incidents. The meteor shower actually happened in Area 28, an area near Lacunosa Town, and the Pokémon that came with it was a group of Elgyem.

In the more recent history, Unova played a pivotal role, acting as a major power in the Second World War. The Second World War was actually a consequence of the creation of Shadow Pokémon in the region of Orre. There was a scientist in Orre named Rudolf Heinrich, who first experimented Dark Matter on Pokémon, converting them into rogue Shadow Pokémon.

With the power of Shadow Pokémon, Heinrich aimed at world domination. He first invaded Kalos, knowing that Kalos had been a major power in the First World War and went on to conquer Sinnoh. Terrified by the increasing power of Heinrich, Kanto and Unova decided to forget their past rivalry and joined hands to fight Heinrich and his Team Snagem. However, Heinrich made an alliance with the regions of Fiore and Oblivia, both of which had sore spots for their respective colonial regions. Heinrich let out a destructive assault in Johto, conquering almost the entire region. However, by the time his army reached Indigo Plateau, Sinnoh joined the war, leading an assault on the allied regions with Unova. Oblivia and Fiore had to call their troops back from Indigo Plateau to defend their own region, decreasing Heinrich's army to nearly half. At the same time, Hoenn, who had been neutral this entire time, decided to aid Kanto by attacking the Snagem army from the Johtoan side of the Plateau. This two-sided assault devastated Team Snagem and by the time Lt. James Surge of Unova reached Heinrich's palace in Orre, the man had committed suicide with his entire family.

Surge felt pity on Heinrich's family and decided that the younger regions like Orre and Fiore should be given equal importance. He appealed to Kanto League to help Orre in purifying the Shadow Pokémon and later got permanent citizenship of Kanto, opening his own gym in Vermillion City. He also appealed to Unova League to declare Oblivia as an independent region and ran campaigns to introduce Pokémon Ranger schools in both Fiore and Oblivia.

If you decide to take on the Kanto Gym circuit, feel free to ask Lt. Surge about the Second World War. The guy has many great stories to tell about how his Electric Pokémon zapped Team Snagem into paralysis.

I say farewell to you for now. Will meet you again someday. Till then, best of luck.


	10. Conquests & Kalos

Conquests and Kalos

By Augustine Sycamore

Pokémon Professor of Kalos

Let's shift the gears of time a while back– back to the start of the universe. It is now an established fact that Arceus created life by sheer force of will. However, it took a long time for people to realize that it wasn't the way they had been thinking.

Arceus sure created life out of sheer willpower, the evidence can be found in ancient writings and prehistoric ruins. However, people had long misinterpreted what "life" actually meant. When Arceus went on shaping the world, he created a powerful entity– the "life" that ancient writings talk about. This entity was the one who blessed the entire universe with what we know today as life force. This Pokémon, known as Xerneas, was among the earliest creations of Arceus.

Xerneas was the Pokémon equivalent of girly princess stereotype. She had a little girl's mentality, hopping around the land curiously and giving life to anything and everything! Whatever Xerneas touched sprang into life. She was the reason Pokémon like Carbink and Geodude exist, her mere touch caused rocks to animate. Though Celebi is mostly seen as the fertility goddess, it was actually Xerneas who fertilized the lands, causing trees to erupt everywhere. It is said that if Xerneas touched even the deadliest venom, it will become an elixir that would grant the consumer eternal life.

Arceus was happy to see his creations live in joy. However, Xerneas went too extreme with her quality to grant life. Soon, the world became a place too small to support all the life Xerneas created. Arceus understood then what a chaos would a place be if life ran rampant. It was this time that Death was invented: an equal and opposite force to Xerneas, known as the Pokémon of Destruction, Yveltal.

Yveltal soon balanced Xerneas in terms of both power and morality. While Xerneas was soft, shy, cheerful; Yveltal was more malevolent and merciless. Whatever Xerneas gave life to, Yveltal would destroy. If you can picture, Yveltal was the annoying little brother who always broke Xerneas's toys.

To make sure that both the forces of life and death remain balanced, Arceus created the master of Legendaries: the Pokémon that had the power to negate the power of any other legendary if need arose. This Pokémon, Zygarde, was created as the ultimate force of Justice and Order, and his sole duty was to administrate other legendaries when Arceus would sleep. However, Zygarde's power was only limited to regulating another legend if they went too extreme with their domain, he was not able to command them. This was done by Arceus (probably) to ensure that the rule (and loyalty) of legendaries remain in his hands.

Well, Zygarde has always been loyal to Arceus anyway, since he is Justice and Order himself. But Zygarde's power surely terrified every other legendaries. He was powerful than even Mew and the Creation Trio, the first Pokémon to be created. And Zygarde's image remained the same amongst the human population. To some tribes, he was a spirit of vengeance, who punished those who went wrong. To others, he was the God of Judgment and Karma.

Anyhow the case be, Zygarde was feared so much that if the choice between Zygarde or Yveltal was given, they would choose the latter, since nobody was sure which one of their sins could make Zygarde unleash his fury on them. However, Zygarde wasn't anything people portrayed him as. He was just a spirit of balance, and would only act if chaos went rampant. To lighten up his fearsome image, Zygarde splitted himself into various cells and started spending more time in his half power or even less.

After Kalos was founded, the three Pokémon went into hibernation at different parts of the region. The influence of these three was that Kalos has been so alive through the ages, the Kelsh people understand the concepts of life and death better than any other region and are always eager to take more out of life before they fall in the eternal sleep called death.

Kalvin Kelsh, the founder of Kalos was one such man. He was nearly the same age as Janus and has been a friendly rival to the Elder Kent since their childhood. As a result, Kalvin was more similar to Janus in terms of ideologies and hence became the only other Elder Monk to encourage battling and royal hierarchy.

Kalvin's son, King Aldrich Kelsh I, was a great conquerer. He continued conquests to cover the independent lands around the early Kelsh kingdom. Some of the lands accepted amnesty, but the others, who wanted to remain independent, allied against the monarchy of Kalos. This started the infamous Kalos War.

During this war, Aldrich's son, King Ambrique Zacharia Kelsh came to throne. Ambrique, or King AZ as he was called, was more stronger than his father, and was also a genius technician. He fought bravely in the Kalos War, but in one of the battles, his beloved Floette perished of her injuries. Angered on the enemies for killing his Floette, AZ built the most disastrous technology of all times– the Ultimate Weapon.

The Weapon worked on an absolute evil principle of converting one life energy into other. AZ went on a massive massacre around the defending regions, killing everyone in sight using this weapon and storing their life energy to revive his Floette. The enemies of AZ had no answer to this highly advanced machine of massacre, and resultantly, the Kelsh monarchy won the Kalos War. But when Floette was revived, she noticed the bloodshed that had occurred for bringing her back to life and she lost belief in her trainer. She left AZ and flew away, leaving the king completely devastated. In redemption, AZ tried to commit suicide, but Zygarde appeared in front of him and told him that death will not accept him unless he had paid the debts of every death he caused. Since this day, he became known as AZ the Accursed.

AZ left the throne of Kelsh monarchy in the hands of his cousin, King Louis I, and vanished in search of redemption. Louis then tried to regain the lost respect of the Kelsh monarchy by focusing more on cultural development. He buried AZ's Ultimate Weapon deep down the heart of Kalos to prevent it from being used again. Later, he made the famous Kalos-Sinnoh Alliance, expanding the Kelsh culture overseas.

King Louis I was also the one who first discovered the secret of Mega Stones when he was at war with the last independent land of Kalos. During the war, his Blastoise mysteriously transformed into a more powerful form, helping him win the final war. On some inspection, Louis found a mystical stone stuck in Blastoise's shell, that resulted in his transformation.

Louis sent his generals in all directions to find if any more of such stones exist. The results were great. Nearly 30 different types of such stones were discovered and it was found that a particular stone will only make one particular species of Pokémon to transform. These stone were named Royal Stones and the transformation it caused became known as the Royal Evolution.

This new form of evolution got Kalos into the spotlight. Many different regions asked Louis to establish the trading routes, but King Louis kept the power preserved within the royal house. He built the Parfum Palace of Kalos to house all the Royal Stones. This placed Kalos at odds with the royalty of Kanto, who wanted a liberal environment in the entire world.

After King Louis's demise, Sir Charles Kent attacked Kalos and conquered a large western part of the land after a war which is called the Seventeen Months' War. However, King Louis II still refused to give up the Royal Stones, since he considered them a royal heirloom. The Kantonian influence on Kalos, however, went against the favors of Kalos monarchy as people started to think about the liberal environment provided by Kanto.

This marked the start of Renaissance Era in Kalos. Artists like Leonardo Da Vincent emerged as the light of cultural development this time. People of Kalos have long believed that Zygarde was the king of the Legendaries. However, Da Vincent's paintings like the Last Council and Gifts of the Gods made people start to worship Arceus. It was also the time that various philosophers came to light, influencing the common people of Kalos towards liberty and freedom. It was during this period that the Unovan War of Independence took place, in which Kalos became the first and very important ally to Unova.

This time, a young warrior was born in the Kelsh monarchy, named Jane D'Arc, more commonly known as Jane of the Arc. Jane actively opposed the Kanto government in the west, while at the same time, berated the Kelsh monarchy for not giving enough liberty to the people of Kalos. Jane led troops to the west and reclaimed several parts of Kalos back from Kantonian government. However, she was caught in Aquacorde, which was under the Kantonian alliance. The Kanto government put her on trial for treason and was given a death sentence. The Kelsh monarchy, however, named her the Martyr of Kalos.

By the end of the Renaissance Era, a war broke out between the royalty and the common people, known as the Renaissance War or the Revolutionary War. The people raided the Parfum Palace and claimed all the Royal Stones for themselves, renaming them as the Mega Stones. The Kelsh monarchy was overthrown and the First Republic of Kalos was established. The Republic was based on different aspects of the League System as well as the Kelsh monarchy. The ruler was elected democratically and had all the rights to dismiss and reselect the Elite Four members.

This Republican government, however, saw a major decline when the famous (or infamous, depending how you see) Napoleon Buna'part became the Champion of the Republic. Napoleon found the modern form of government weak and corruptible and hence, established the absolute monarchy of Kalos. He conquered the western part of Kalos, which was long ruled by Kanto and the Senate declared him the Emperor of the Kelsh.

Napoleon led military expedition to the distant region of Al-ramel, but his inexperience to fight in the vast desert of Sehra made it difficult for the expedition to last long and he returned to Kalos. At the age of 50, he led troops to conquer the smaller Kantonian regions on the Eastern part of Kalos, but was defeated and put on trial by the Kantonian military. His death the following year was received with shock all over Kalos and a lot of people witnessed his remains brought to Lumiose City. The Prism Tower was built to honour the Emperor.

Witnessing the influence of Napoleon's death in Kalos, the Kanto Champion decided to call back the remaining Kantonian military from Kalos and Kalos was once again free to be ruled by the people. The League System was completely adopted and the Kalos League was formed, with Devlin Siebold as the first Champion. The Siebold family remained one of the most renowned families of Kalos up until this day, when Emil Siebold remained the Champion until he was defeated by Diantha Blackheart and is currently one of the Elite Four.

As a bonus content, I'll put a little light on the Al-ramel region. The region lies distantly from other regions and features the largest desert in the Pokémon World. In fact, the whole Al-ramel region is actually situated on a large desert. In vast contrast to the other main regions (that are governed by the respective Leagues) and the smaller regions of Fiore, Almia and Oblivia (which are governed by the respective Ranger Institutes), Al-ramel is an absolute monarchy, ruled by the royal family of Shekhs.

While Al-ramel does not have any exclusive Pokémon, similar to Orre, Oblivia and Almia, it is home to one of the most powerful Pokémon: the Legendary Hoopa. This happened during the earliest time of Al-ramel, when the capital Dahara City was a minor village. Hoopa would appear out of thin air and steal food from people. Annoyed, the people of Dahara made a negotiation with the Legendary Pokémon, they would give Hoopa food, if Hoopa was able to pay for it. Hoopa agreed and showered the place of Al-ramel with gold and fuel. Hoopa's gold helped the region flourish and soon Al-ramel became the richest among the regions. However, once the people were satisfied, they stopped providing food to Hoopa. Angry for being betrayed, Hoopa took a gigantic form and started destroying everything. Terrified, a sage in Dahara City created the mysterious Prison Bottle to trap the rage that transformed Hoopa into a destructive force. Hoopa reverted to its smaller form and the Prison Bottle was hidden inside the Cave of Wonders. Since then, Hoopa's smaller form is called Hoopa Confined and its full-powered form is called Hoopa Unbound.

The region of Al-ramel has no distinct League or Gym circuit, and only serves as a tourist spot. Still, there are a lot of tales prevalent around the region that are collectively known as the Daharan Nights. The evidences of these tales being true are however non-existent and hence, these are dismissed as mere myths and folktales.

That was all from me, I guess. See you guys later!


	11. Post-Alneo Pokémon Leagues

Post-Alneo Pokémon Leagues

By Aaron Blackheart

Champion of Alneo

It's been 15 years since the news flared that a mysterious landmass had appeared in the International Oceans. And in these 15 years, everything has changed even faster than it had after division of Ransei. No, seriously! The emergence of Alneo from the sea was probably the biggest sensation after World War II.

Alneo has the smallest population density when compared to other regions, even Al-ramel scores more on a "people per square mile" basis! But nobody can argue that Alneo has the most abundant Pokémon population. Even Larvitar and Gible, that are rarely found in the wild in other generations, are found abundantly in Alneo region. If you think such a sensational event changed nothing in the Pokémon World, you're desperately wrong!

The biggest change in the world was that people from almost every region started to settle in Alneo, from researchers to adventurers. After it was declared safe for humans, Alneo region saw a massive population increase in a matter of just a few months, exceeding 10 million. Well, it did helped in lessening the crowd in some places, for instance Castelia and Goldenrod, but it also affected the world's political structure. Committees were organised and the Champions of all the regions decided to meet at the Pokémon World Council in Ever Grande to discuss the matter.

Keeping in mind that Alneo region was home to many powerful Pokémon, a few rules were changed. The legit age for participating in the Alneo Championship was raised to 15 and the eligible age for challenging the Elite Four was raised to 20. Also, unlike other regions, a set of 15 gyms were confirmed for Alneo.

The Alneo region and the time that has passed changed the structure of every region. Here, I present the changes that has occurred in the world, especially the regional Leagues, starting from Kanto...

Kanto had received the most of shocks these years, the first being the demise of Professor Samuel Oak. The mastermind of Pokédex technology passed away twelve years ago. The news of his death was received with a worldwide shock and the Celebrity Researcher was buried near his lab, soon after which his grandson, Gary Oak was given the mantle of Regional Pokémon Professor. Professor Oak's death also became a turning point in the life of Ash Ketchum, who started getting more serious in his life and began studying Pokémon with his childhood friend Gary. The following year, Ash got settled in Alneo and was appointed the Regional Professor. Today, Ash is living a happily married life with his wife Serena Ketchum neé Grace in the Newland Town of Alneo.

Forrest Boulder of Pewter City passed the Gym down to his nephew Perth Boulder, that is, son of famous Doctors Brock and Suzana Boulder. Misty Waterflower of Cerulean also left for Alneo, leaving the Gym in the hands of her sisters Violet, Lily and Daisy. Misty opened her own gym in the Riverview City of Alneo.

The following year, Kenshin Koga and Lance Blackthorn signed a treaty which declared the separation of Kanto and Johto Leagues. However, this became a problem since it caused a division of Elite Four. Will Brainstorm and Karen Darkholme became the first Elite Four members of the new Johto League, while Bruno Rockhart remained the only one in Kanto, with Koga's promotion to the Champion.

To fill this vacancy, Koga promoted several Gym Leaders to Elite Four. The first and foremost choice was Lt. James Surge, but he was already busy with some military work, and hence, Sabrina Natsume became the first Gym Leader to become an Elite Four member. The second member of the new Elite Four was Erika Ozawa. Koga was actually wishing for Blaine to join as well, but the old researcher's illness and subsequent demise made Koga change his mind.

James Surge, who had been promoted to the post of General in military, was asked to fill the final vacancy in Elite Four, but he refused, saying that a Gym Leader's life was more adventurous and that he is a soldier, not a politician. Koga then requested Prima Lorelei, who had taken the responsibility of Viridian Gym, to return. After giving it a little thought, Lorelei agreed and the Elite Four was completed.

However, after this, three gyms in Kanto were closed. The Fighting Dojo Master, Kiyo Daisuke, saw this as an opportunity to regain his Dojo's status as a Gym, and appealed to the Champion. Though Sabrina was initially against it, she later agreed on the condition that Kiyo should defeat her students of the Saffron Gym. Kiyo, who had trained hard these years, managed to satisfy Sabrina and got the command of the Gym. The second required Gym was opened by Alastor Morse, the grandson of former Elite, Late Agatha Morse, in Lavender Town. Celadon City hence became the only major city in Kanto without a Gym. Soon, a young Normal-type user named Kevin White challenged the Elite Four. Though he lost, Kevin impressed everyone with his expertise of Normal-types, and was given the keys to Viridian Gym.

The last gym took a bit longer, partly due to the reconstruction of Cinnabar Island, which was artificially made larger to keep the Cinnabar Town away from the volcano; and partly because of Blaine's will. The old man had mentioned to give his Gym to the only trainer who would manage to find Ho-oh. After Koga made his will public, the League started to receive emails from a lot of young trainers who sent their selfies with Ho-oh. However, none of them were trustworthy, so Koga added that the person should personally appear with Ho-oh if they wanted to be the Gym Leader. There was no claim over the gym for long, and the League decided to close the gym. But at the last moment, a young boy was seen flying towards the League Headquarters on the said Legendary Pokémon. The boy, Chris Blaze, never revealed how he found the bird, but since that wasn't necessary, he was made the new Gym Leader of Cinnabar.

Johto wasn't much affected by the split, with only two Gym Leaders being promoted to Elites and two new Gyms opening in their place. The first Gym Leader to become an Elite was Chuck Stronghold, and the second was Marc Falkner. Their places as Gym Leaders were taken by Silver Giovanni, who opened his Water-type gym in Cianwood; and a new Fairy-type specialist named Luke Angel. Pryce's gym was inherited by his son, Zeo Glace, after his demise.

A major change in Hoenn League occurred after Juan decided to retire and opened his school of arts in Sootopolis. Wallace Reigner returned to his hometown to serve as the Sootopolis Gym Leader rather than the Champion. Captain Drake Williams served as the acting Champion for a while, until Steven Stone returned to handle the responsibility. Another big change came after the mayor and Gym Leader of Mauville passed away. After Greg Wattson's death, his eldest student, Raijohn Mhar took the mantle of the Gym Leader.

In Sinnoh, the only major change was Bertha's retirement, with Volkner Bolt filling her place, making Sinnoh Elite Four to be comprised entirely of men. After Volkner, the Sunyshore Gym was converted to Fairy-type gym by the new Gym Leader Angela McIver.

The changes in Unova includes Cheren leaving for Alneo, which left a Gym vacant. Lenora was requested by Alder to return as the Nacrene City Gym Leader, which she eventually did. Everything else remained same more or less.

Kalos saw a major change these years when Malva of the Elite Four was revealed to be a member of Team Flare. It was really shocking to see that someone who had ties with villainous teams like Team Flare could infiltrate the League. Anyways, Malva was found guilty and was taken into custody and the Anistar City Gym Leader Olympia Styles was elevated to her place. A new Fire-type specialist, named Pyrrha Vincent, was appointed as the new Leader for Anistar City. A few years later, Ramos of Coumarine died of old age and his grandson Dave inherited the Gym.

Now, coming to Alneo... There is a separate story behind every single gym, that will be told by the Gym Leaders themselves, further ahead in this tape. For now, I'll just give you a surface-knowledge of the gyms and Elite Four. So, pack your bags, the Alneo tour bus is ready to leave...

If you've started your journey from the Newland Town in the Central Alneo, the best way is to proceed north towards the Gagens River. In the way, you'll pass through grasslands where you can catch new Pokémon. Once you reach the bank of Gagens River, there is a huge pier where you can board a ferry that would sail you through the river route to the Bay of Alneo, where the Monarch Isles are situated. It is a group of six islands that are connected by the Noble Bridges. It is here that you can challenge the first gym, the royal house of the Isles, and the Gym Leader tag team, King Pluto and Queen Stella. The duo are a master of combination attacks, and use the Tempearl evolution family, which are pretty tough to defeat with their Fire/Ice dual-typing.

Once you get the Temperature Badge from the monarchs, you should take a ferry to the Maiden's Cape. That would be the southernmost part of Alneo region, named after the Lady Josephine of Rota, who in her last years, came to Alneo to escape the more modernized atmosphere of Kanto. You can do fishing or meditate at the Lady Josephine's shrine. From the Maiden's Cape, you can proceed alongside the eastern coast to the Stonedge City. There you can take on the second Gym Leader Theia Hardy. Theia is a Rock-type specialist, so be sure to have some Water or Grass types.

After winning the Adamant Badge from Theia, the gatekeeper of the city would let you pass through the tunnel in the Eastern Hills. The tunnel would lead you into the Southern Plateau, from where you can proceed for the Topaz City. The city is well known for its Topaz mines and is home to a lot of Fighting-type trainers, including the Gym Leader, Dave Warfield. Warfield is exactly as named, and keeps a great arsenal of Fighting-types at his disposal. Be quick, since he doesn't give a second chance.

Earning your third badge, which would be the Vigor Badge, you can proceed north to the Central City. This city is situated in the heart of Alneo and this is where you can find the lab of Professor Cedar, the second Pokémon Professor of Alneo. When you show him your starter, he may give you a Pokémon of the rarer set of starters (yes, there are more than one set of starters in Alneo). You can also attend the weekly Pokémon Seminar or participate in the Alneo Pokémon Contests at the Central City Auditorium.

From here, you can board a train for Chrysalis City. The Chrysalis Woods in the south are home to a huge variety of Bug-type Pokémon, that is evident from the Chrysalis Gym. The Gym Leader Matt Russell would give you the Buzz Badge on defeat, after which you can head towards the west.

After the road travel of a few hours, you would reach the Arvalis Hills in the western Alneo. You should rest at the Arvalis Village, since it would take a lot of effort to scale the rough terrains of the hills. Once at the peak, you'll find the fascinating Mountwing Town. This is where you can challenge Skylar Davison, the fifth gym leader. If you haven't caught any Rock-types till now, his Flying Pokémon can give you a good run for your money.

The back of Mountwing Town is an amusement park where you can enjoy the world's longest slides and roller coaster rides, but only if you get Air Badge from Skylar. This is a fun way to go downhill, as your next destination is beyond the Arvalis Hills, into the westernmost part of Alneo. After a few miles west, the climate will get hotter and you will find yourself entering the vast Sandveil Desert. You can find a couple of villages before reaching the westernmost Alneo, the Sandstone City. It is a major producer of Alnean Sandstone and here you can get your sixth gym badge from Sandy Castle. Sandy is a Ground-type specialist and her Ghouvel is a tough Pokémon to defeat, so be prepared.

When you get the Silica Badge from Sandy, you can take the sea route to the Eevee Town in the north. The Eevee Town is important because it is situated at the foot of the Evolution Mountain, the home of Evolution Stones and Pokémon that evolve through them. This mountain is the only place where Eevee can be caught in the wild and can evolve into any of its evolution depending on the part of the mountain.

From here, you have two options. You can either go further north and enter the beautiful Dracone Village. There you can find the lab of Professor Pine, the third and final Pokémon Professor of Alneo, who will give you one of the Dragon starters of Alneo (I told you there are more than one set of starters). However, the Gym Leader Callum Blackthorn will refuse to accept your challenge and without his badge, you would not be eligible to enter the Dragon Forest.

So, you have to travel back south through the Eevee Town and take the Cycling Route over the river channels to reach the metropolitan Illuminus City. The largest city of Alneo features a lot of landmarks. You can go shopping in the Grand Illuminus Mall, participate in the Pokélympics events at St. Bartholomew Stadium, or explore the famous Creation Ruins. Here you can take on the seventh Gym Leader, Eliana Russo. After you defeat her Electric Pokémon, she would give you the Lightning Badge.

So, you're halfway through. From Illuminus, you should head to the vast and spooky Savage Rainforests. Have your supplies ready, since this is a long journey full of wild Pokémon. Midway through the forest you'll find a rather spooky settlement called Moriart Town. This is where the eighth gym is situated. After defeating Terry Spirare's Ghost-type team and earning the Phantom Badge from him, you can travel through the rest of the forest and reach the beautiful Crystal Canyon. Deep down the canyon is the Crystal City where you can find the ninth gym. The Gym Leader Denice Kyle is a nice girl, but don't let that fool you, she can be a problem with her versatile Normal-type Pokémon. But once you get the Sober Badge from Denice, you can proceed west to the Bayport Town.

The route to Bayport is through a long tunnel bored into the Western Hills where you can find many Steel-type Pokémon and the famous Bayport Iron Refinery at the end. The Bayport City is the major port city where you can challenge the tenth Gym Leader, Oswald Steelfist. Steelfist owns the S.I. , the Steelfist Iron & Steel Company and is a master Steel-type trainer who would give you the Determination Badge on defeat.

Now, you have only five more to go. From Bayport, you should travel alongside the River of Hope, passing a couple towns and reach the green haven of Blooming Valley. The Bloomsynth Town is your next destination, which is famous for its natural environment and a vast forest in the north. The Bloomsynth Gym Leader, Aroma Janesson, is a master Grass-type trainer, and if you managed to defeat her, you'd be awarded with the Nature Badge.

From here, you can proceed for another major metropolitan city of Minglore. The Minglore City is famous for the Al-ramel Corps, who are the leading producers of energy and Trainer Items like Pokéballs and Medicines. The Al-ramel Corps owner, Omar Khan is a genius engineer from the Al-ramel region who uses Poison-type Pokémon. If you defeat him, he'll grant you the Venom Badge.

From here, things will get serious. After learning that you have earned 12 badges, the Queen of Pixieland will invite you to her magical kingdom, which is built in the sky above a cloud. The Queen, Rina Davies, is the thirteenth Gym Leader specializing in Fairy-types. Earning the Magic Badge from her is not easy, as the victor is decided by points awarded on the battling style and move combinations.

If you could survive it, she'll drop you back at the Dracone Village where you can finally take on Callum Blackthorn and his dragons, getting access to the Dragon Valley after getting the Fury Badge from him. Once you're done there, you can head to the pilgrim city of Gagnes, the start point of the famous Gagnes River and take the adventurous tour through the river to the Riverview Delta in the easternmost Alneo.

There, in the beautiful Riverview City, you can defeat the final Gym Leader. Beware though, Misty Waterflower is not someone you can easily take on. If you managed, you'll get the Delta Badge from her and now you're eligible for the Victory Islands Tournament.

If you're 20+ and have won at least one regional tournament, you are capable of challenging the Elite Four of Alneo. But if you do this, I'd say you're either extremely hopeful or extremely stupid. Since I became Alneo's Champion ten years ago, I haven't seen any challenger be able to challenge me, let alone become the new Champion of Alneo.

The Elite Four of Alneo is the most powerful of any other region. Lyra Blaze is a Psychic-type master, and a powerful telepath. Her Pokémon are well-known to look into your mind and render you helpless, breaking all your strategies. Jordan Frost is the calm and cool Ice-type specialist. He is the one who first found the unique Ice Traps with DNA of prehistoric Pokémon. His Pokémon are extreme tanks, both in size and moves. Then comes the fiery Elite of Alneo, Andrew Parker. Andrew's Fire-types are the all-offensive powerhouses of the league. Andrew might look an easy task, but his Pokémon are well trained to fight on their own accord. So, if Andrew is not giving instructions, it means that he is leaving you at the mercy of his Fire Pokémon, and if that's the case, I wish you luck. The final Elite is the greatest Dark-type master, Zoe Mark, also called the Nightshade. Zoe has won three different League Tournaments in three straight years, and had won praise of Dark-specialists like Karen and Grimsley. Aunt Cynthia herself has appealed for Zoe's nomination as an Elite Four candidate, so you may understand she is the dead end for your Elite Challenge.

These four are the fortresses of Alneo, and own a separate island of the Victory Archipelago, where they attend the respective League works. The fifth island is the Alneo Champion House, where I would eagerly wait for a challenger. Alas, I saw none during all these years as a Champion, and hence decided to contribute towards the development. So, there is another large island north of the Victory Archipelago, where Pokémon World's very own Alneo University for Trainers is situated. If you don't want to roam around on your own and want to learn from experts, you can get admission for the three-year course at the age of nine, and when you graduate, you would be more experienced and eligible to take on the Alneo League Conference.

That's it for now. I have a class to teach, so, I'd meet you guys later.

 **Author's Notes: Well, so this is the first saga of this world-building experience. The upcoming tales would feature the stories behind Alneo's Gym Leaders and their adventures from being a normal trainer to a celebrity.**

 **I'd like to thank all you who have reviewed and also the Pokémon's Best of the Best Community for adding my story in their list. It's really an honour.**


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